That was the longest five-minute flight of my life.

She was the first one to dismount the creature, sliding off gracefully. Leon knew the exact second she moved away because he immediately felt the absence of pressure and warmth.

A faint trace of her scent still lingered in the air—a mix of smoke, heated skin, and something wild.

After her, he climbed down as well. Before he could even properly orient himself or look at their surroundings, she was already pointing at him, gesturing for him to follow her.

But the first thing Leon checked before examining his environment was looking directly at her—really seeing her properly for the first time without being pressed against her.

The woman stood approximately five feet eleven inches tall—quite tall for a female. Red-skinned with striking crimson eyes and deep burgundy-red hair. Wearing minimal clothing that barely covered her substantial chest, and now that he looked properly, he understood why the fabric seemed strained.

I felt it too. Those are... significant.

He was carefully watching for any reaction on her face—any sign of embarrassment, awareness, or discomfort about their close contact during the flight.

But leaving aside the fact that she looked genuinely beautiful by any objective standard...

She was a woman. He didn't know enough about different races' cultural standards and customs, but he had controlled his reactions and expressions the entire time to avoid being rude or inappropriate in front of her.

I maintained perfect composure. I think.

However, now that he looked at her face carefully, she showed absolutely no reaction whatsoever—no blush, no embarrassment, no acknowledgment that anything unusual had occurred.

Things must be very different here in their race and culture. What would be extremely intimate, touchy behavior for normal humans is apparently completely normal here.

So he deliberately ignored the whole situation and focused on more important matters.

He still didn't know her name. Crimson, he decided silently. It fit too well.

The woman noticed him looking at her and signaled for him to follow as she had already moved forward toward their destination.

So he followed obediently.

Leon immediately noticed how people had started forming crowds around her as they walked, and he took in the tent-like houses surrounding them on all sides. They were definitely not small structures—quite substantial, actually—and didn't look lacking in any resources or quality. With geometric designs similar to what she had incorporated into her clothing, they looked rather mesmerizing and artistically impressive.

Sophisticated architecture. These aren't primitive people at all.

He could hear people talking all around them, and more and more residents were emerging from their homes every second to observe the strange newcomer. But he didn't understand a single word of their conversations yet.

I really need that translation item soon.

Leon had found what appeared to be the perfect treasure in his cosmic shop to learn their language rapidly, but now wasn't the time to purchase it yet. He would also need a few additional supplementary things to properly master their language if the opportunity arose later. He made mental notes of the items; if a chance arises, he will get them.

Leon doesn't have a strength detection skill that would automatically display power levels, but he decided to manually check a few people's stats using his system as they passed.

And he was genuinely surprised—they were all freaking strong.

What the hell? Everyone here is powerful?

He hadn't detected anyone stronger than the woman currently leading him somewhere yet. But leaving children aside—who were still impressively close to Journeyman rank, and some teenagers who had already reached Journeyman rank—most adults walking around casually were solidly in the Master rank cultivation realm.

These people are ridiculously strong as a baseline population. Is this normal for the Ascendant realm?

Leon doesn't know yet.

After a bit more walking deeper into the settlement, they arrived at an area that seemed deliberately guarded for specific reasons. Two male red-skinned individuals of the same Pyrrhan race stood watch at the entrance to this section, which was surrounded by worked stone fences that were clearly artificial constructions, not natural formations.

The two guards weren't wearing anything covering their upper bodies. They had the same intricate white markings covering their skin from neck to waist, deliberately leaving only their faces unmarked. They wore white cloth wraps around their lower bodies with light blue symbols, distinctly different from the blue garments with white symbols that the woman leading him wore.

Their muscles flexed subtly beneath the markings, sweat catching the red sunlight like molten glaze.

Color coding. Rank or role designation, probably.

Most people he'd seen until now had been wearing similar white clothing—men, women, and children alike. Leaving aside only this one woman who had brought him here, which made her distinctly different in his perception. There had to be a significant reason for her clothing being so distinctive from the general population.

She's someone important. Higher status.

She talked to the guards for a bit and even pointed directly at Leon at one point during the conversation. The guards looked him up and down with barely concealed suspicion and curiosity, then nodded and let them through without further challenge.

I'm dying to know what they're saying. I really need to learn this language immediately.

Only after taking a couple of steps into this restricted area—

"Fuck."

Leon felt it immediately and unmistakably. He was in seriously deep waters now.

Oh no. Oh shit.

He could feel genuinely powerful presences all around him now—not just strong, but dangerous. The atmospheric pressure felt heavier.

The very air tasted different—thicker, metallic, as if heavy with violence.

The housing in this exclusive area was noticeably more refined and elaborate. And he could now see only people wearing similar distinctive blue clothing like his guide wore, with very few individuals in standard white garments—probably servants or lower-ranking attendants.

And even here in this elite district, he was attracting significant attention from everyone. He understood why, on some level—he looked completely different from them, an obvious outsider. But the fact that she had been able to determine so quickly that he was related to the strange red symbolic portal suggested there had to be something more to the situation.

She knew what that portal meant. That wasn't a guess.

They were going deeper and deeper into this protected area, passing increasingly impressive structures.

Fucking hell!

Leon could now detect presences that felt genuinely threatening to his life—similar to when he had first encountered the Coreborn monster Morpheus before their fight.

These people could actually kill me if they wanted to.

For a brief moment, he seriously considered whether he should just retreat into his time dimension immediately for safety.

His hand twitched faintly, instinct tugging at the edge of escape.

But he chose not to—not yet. Running would accomplish nothing and might make things worse, making him seem guilty and suspicious.

However, one thing he understood with absolute clarity: he desperately needed a skill or technique that would let him accurately gauge the power level of others. Until now, he'd been relying purely on his intuitive senses, which were clearly not perfect in this regard unless the difference was extremely obvious.

I'm flying blind here in terms of threat assessment accuracy.

They finally stopped at a particularly large tent structure which, uniquely, had markings that weren't just white—it incorporated red symbols as well, woven into the design.

The presence emanating from inside this tent made Leon's entire body shiver involuntarily, even while standing several meters away.

Whatever is in there... It's on a completely different level from anything I've encountered.

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